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In the last four weeks, two Luzerne County teachers have been charged with institutional sexual assault.

It's a charge that was not available for prosecutors two years ago. It had been primarily used to prosecute prison employees who violated inmates, but legislation from December 2011 has allowed prosecutors to file it against school employees and volunteers.

Before the law went into effect in February 2012, a teacher who had sex with a 16- or 17-year-old student was typically only going to face charges of corrupting a minor, a misdemeanor.

"When the student was over 17, there would have been no charge," Luzerne County Assistant District Attorney Jenny Roberts. "Now with institutional sexual assault, age is not a factor."

A victim must be under 16 for statutory sexual assault and under 18 for corruption of minors. The age of consent in Pennsylvania is 16, and a defendant charged with statutory sexual assault must be four or more years older than the victim.

Institutional sexual assault is a third-degree felony. The charge can result in a prison sentence of seven years.

Last month, a former Altoona Area High School assistant girls soccer coach, Kyla A. Hollingshead, pleaded guilty to corruption of a minor and institutional sexual assault and was sentenced to at least 60 days in the Blair County Prison followed by 30 months on probation, The Altoona Mirror reported. Hollingshead pleaded guilty to offenses against two of her players, 15 and 16.

In Luzerne County, Lauren Harrington-Cooper, 31, was charged Dec. 19 with institutional sexual assault for having sex with an 18-year-old student. Harrington-Cooper was suspended without pay from her $45,075 a year job as an English teacher by the Wyoming Valley West School District and was charged Thursday with institutional sexual assault for having oral sex with a 17-year-old student. Both alleged victims are male.

Edward Evans, 33, was arrested Tuesday on two charges of institutional sexual assault for offenses involving an 18-year-old male student. The Hanover Area School District suspended Evans without pay from his $63,628-a-year job as a social studies teacher.

Joseph R. D'Andrea, a defense attorney representing Harrington-Cooper, said preventing a teacher from having a sexual relationship with a student off school premises is unconstitutional.

D'Andrea said a prison employee who has sex with an adult inmate is not a comparable situation because there is a custodial relationship and currying favors in prison leads to corruption.

"Even if my client wanted to have sex with someone 18 or older, it's her choice to do it," D'Andrea said. "It may not seem normal, but it's not illegal

D'Andrea did not comment on the specific allegations against his client but has said the charges are without merit. He said the state Legislature "acted in haste" when giving prosecutors the ability to file institutional sexual assault against school employees, adding it was a response to the Jerry Sandusky case.

Sandusky, a former Penn State football coach, was convicted in June 2012 of 45 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys.

Prosecutors can only charge institutional sexual assault against an employee or volunteer at a public or private grade school or secondary school, Berks County Chief Deputy Assistant District Attorney Jonathan H. Kurland said, explaining the charge can't be filed against employees at colleges and post-secondary institutions.

In Berks County on Friday, a Hamburg High School teacher's aide, Jennifer Merklinger, was charged with institutional sexual assault for having sex an 18-year-old male student between Dec. 13 and Jan. 1, according to The Reading Eagle.

The definition of school employee is broad and includes principals, teachers, school nurses, counselors, school librarians, coaches, janitors, cafeteria workers and bus drivers. The law says basically any person who has direct contact with a student at a school can be charged with institutional sexual assault.

William Ruzzo, a defense attorney representing Evans, said the new law is unnecessary.

"I think there are enough criminal laws on the book regarding coercive sexual conduct between adults," Ruzzo said.

He did not comment on the specific allegations against his client.

mbuffer@citizensvoice.com

570-821-2073, @cvmikebuffer

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